Leo Kanellhttps://leokanell.com
Mon, 21 Jan 2019 18:31:42 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=5.0.3https://leokanell.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/cropped-Leo-Favicon-1-32x32.pngLeo Kanellhttps://leokanell.com
3232How Sam Walton Built Walmart with Smart Financinghttps://leokanell.com/how-sam-walton-built-walmart-with-smart-financing/
https://leokanell.com/how-sam-walton-built-walmart-with-smart-financing/#respondTue, 04 Dec 2018 08:44:27 +0000http://leokanell.com/?p=1399Over the last year I have read a significant amount of books from successful business magnates and icons. My most recent book is one of the best I have read it is, “Made In America” Sam Walton.” It is 2018 and it has been 26 years since Sam Walton passed away, but not before he left a legacy by building up Walmart the largest retailer in the world. Sam Walton was 100% self made and due to incredible vision and an obsession of testing new and innovative ideas was able to grow Walmart into the incredible organization it has become. What most people don’t know is that Sam Walton was able to establish hundreds of Walmart stores due to his ability to smartly finance the growth of his business, without the astute financing he would never have grown Walmart to the business it has become today.

Sam began his retail career by working a sales job at JC Penny’s and that was his first job right out of college. At that point he began to envision setting up his own store to manage. He was interrupted by world war 2 and served in the military for a few years and when the war was finished he knew exactly what he was going to do, he was going to set up a variety store in Newport, Arkansas. He had saved $5,000 himself and was able to secure a loan of $20,000 in order to start his business. The business began to grow immediately thanks to the innovative actions that Sam took. At that time Sam was building his first stores in smaller populated areas of Arkansas and in order to generate interested customers he needed to do new things. So what he did was discover that soft ice cream was going to help attract a lot of customers to his store, so he immediately secured a bank loan for $1,800 and set up the ice cream machine out in front of his store. It was unprecedented at the time and the machine led to significant growth in his store.

Over the next several years Sam Walton borrowed to the “hilt” as he described it in order to set up more stores and grow the business, at first he set up a couple of stores and later he began to set up dozens of stores each year, all while carrying significant personal risk to himself and his family by ultimately personally guaranteeing millions of dollars in loans and this was back in the 1950’s and 60’s when a million dollars was a decent amount of money. The point I’m making is that without his intelligence in securing significant funding from multiple banks and lenders all across the country Walmart would never have become the most dominant retailer in the world that it is now. So while some people like Mark Cuban may have said it is “stupid” to start a business on a loan, in reality most successful businesses are started by securing affordable financing and the majority of businesses are able to grow with capital secured by smart financing. Well, when Sam passed away he was far and away the wealthiest man in the world, and if he were alive today his wealth would total $160 Billion dollars which is more than what the current richest person in the world is worth although Jeff Bezos is on his way to breaking that mark.

Indeed, smart financing is a vital key for most businesses to get off the ground and grow into a long term sustainable business.

Decades ago, the American dream was to get to the middle class, have a good job, build up some retirement and the crowning achievement was to own your own property and home. In the 1700’s and 1800’s, the dream was to have your own land that you could work, build up some crops, become self sufficient and raise a good family. For millions of immigrants leaving Europe and other parts of the world this was so much more than they could hope for when compared to the feudal system type life in their own country.

Fast forward a few decades and owning your home is far from the American dream, in fact owning a home is not really the investment that so many believe it is. If you pay cash for your home, you may feel great about owning your home free and clear, on the other hand if you were making 10% on that same money then you’d actually be making real progress and position yourself to build wealth and in that same time you’d “own your home free and clear,” then you’d be in a position to own 3 to 4 homes of the same value, that is the power of compounding investment income.

So stop doing something you hate, quit that job, and take action, the first step is to become an expert in a field that you know well and can provide a unique product or service for. Avoid trying to start a business or venture in an area that you do not have strong expertise in. One of the biggest mistakes I see is when people go start a restaurant and they have absolutely no experience in the realities of the restaurant industry.

All that said, it is not necessary to be the main business owner, maybe you should partner up with someone who brings different strengths and skills to the table or sometimes it is better to find an opportunity that you can join up in within the confines of a new startup and grow with that business. Bottom line, get started now and build your business or join a new business now!

]]>https://leokanell.com/the-new-american-dream/feed/0Harness the Power of the Business Funding Formulahttps://leokanell.com/harness-the-power-of-the-business-funding-formula/
https://leokanell.com/harness-the-power-of-the-business-funding-formula/#respondSun, 15 Apr 2018 22:36:23 +0000http://leokanell.com/?p=1832You’re an Entrepreneur or aspiring entrepreneur and you understand that at some point, especially at the beginning or at key points during your entrepreneurial journey, you will need funding to jump start your business. Access to money to jump-start your business is an opportunity, so I’m telling you there’s a chance when you discover the formula that will lead you to the funding you need. Knowing about something and being able to actually do it are 2 Different things. We might think, oh I will simply go to my bank, grab venture capital or crowdfund my way to success. Talking about it, knowing about and actually understanding how to execute funding to success is different.

The business funding formula is the holy grail for jump starting your business. So many ivy league studies show that one of the top reasons businesses fail is lack of capital or funding. Doesn’t matter what business you are in, what business model you have, you need capital. Even a lemonade stand needs the table, the lemonade, the cups, the sugar, the signs to get going. The BFF allows you to get the things your business needs like inventory, a new website, office location, money for marketing and the ability to hire staff. This is not get rich quick just because you got access to affordable funding. You need to focus on generating revenues and selling your product or service, but the BFF can open the door.

This is not buying a shelf corporation or spending 12 months building business credit to get a 1k Staples card, this is real world cash funding strategies that you can use to fund your business now. Is Venture Capital or CrowdFunding an Option? Both venture capital and crowdfunding Fund less than 1% of businesses, even with those 2 funding options, you often face additional hurdles that require additional capital beyond vc and crowdfunding if you are fortunate to be in the small 2 to 3% of businesses that get vc money.

What about my local Bank. Tell most businesses no because most don’t show profits on paper and startups forget about it. What about the SBA programs? They all need 2 years of profitable business tax returns or collateral. Securing Funding for an existing business and especially a new business is difficult. Lending Before the Great Recession vs Biz Lending Now is completely different, the funding landscape is much more stringent. Learn the Business Funding Formula, it’s is a skill that you can and Must Learn. Harness the power of the business funding formula by SIMPLY Clicking Here to Apply for Funding and get qualified in minutes..

As an entrepreneur, it can often at times be an up and down journey, one moment you are basking in success and profits and everyone loves you. The next moment, you’re failing, losing money and the haters are all in. That said, there are some keys that you can focus on and truly invest into so that your odds for success go up. The keys are to focus on developing a business idea, product or service that provides better value in a different way than anyone else in that market currently gives their customers. Persevering through adversity is a must and finding good people, read below for real stories of how to put this into practice.

As Mark Cuban says the great thing about being an entrepreneur is you only have to be right once. The Entrepreneur’s Journey is a lot like a roller coaster, the key to succeed is to maintain a laser focus on your end goals and then work towards them purposely each day, week, month and even year. Think about how incredible that fact is, in reality you could fail over and over again and if you can just get it right one time, then overall you will win and that one win will overcome and compensate for the failures you may have had previously. The ultra successful have all had failures, some of them big and some of them small, but they never looked at them as failures, just as part of their journey to success.

Look at the story of the Colonel, what an entrepreneur’s journey he had, that’s right our good ol boy from Kentucky, Colonel Sanders. For the majority of his life, he largely failed and had terrible timing. He opened up stores in different areas and events outside of his control like the great depression derailed his dreams. At the age of 60, he finally started to think about franchising his fried chicken recipe and concept. He went back to the one thing that he did better than anyone and that was to make some really good fried chicken. His spices that he put on chicken were unique and simply better than the competition. Because he only had to be right once, we all know about KFC. I’ve read that he nearly committed suicide, before starting up KFC, but fortunately he did not give up, he persevered and eventually succeeded.
Having gone through similar failures in business, I can tell you that maintaining that belief and that vision that you are going to persevere and figure out how to bring incredible value to the world with your product or service is what has kept me moving forward during tough times. This is what the Entrepreneur’s Journey is all about.

A year ago, we had a fledgling business with two employees doing 20k a month in sales and now fast forward a year later and we have 20 employees and we’re surpassing $200k a month in sales. I think the reason we’ve succeeded against the odds when we were working in my kitchen is that we created a product with more value than our competition provides. I think we also have been fortunate to find the best people. Human capital is the key to exponential growth, there’s no way you can do it by yourself, you need great people who are an extension of your business and idea. I truly love the people at our company. It especially takes great leaders, our executive team has been so dedicated, relentless and focused on finding solutions and making sure we are progressing each day. At the end of the day, there is nothing quite as powerful at growing a company like a positive company culture that is conducive to productivity. So fight like a Lion and make your dreams into the truth and never, ever give up!

Now that you’ve come across this book you’re probably wondering what exactly is the business funding formula and how will it help me? If you’re reading this, then you are either an entrepreneur or an aspiring entrepreneur and you have realized that if you simply had access to capital and funding you would have a real chance at building not only the business of your dreams, but the life of your dreams as well. The ability to secure capital can be the difference between success and failure in business, it is absolutely that important.
Before the recession of 2008 & 2009 it was not complicated to secure funding at your bank to launch or grow your business, but since then it has taken incredible creativity and knowledge to secure funding especially for a new business with unproven financials. Even for businesses with history and financials it is still difficult and even though several years have passed since the recession of 2008-09, banks and lenders still mostly lend to the top 5 to 10% of businesses and largely ignore the other 90% of small businesses who desperately need access to capital to have a chance to bring their products and services to market. To make matters worse the proliferation of many different high rate finance products and expensive lenders has made it even more confusing to find the best funding options to launch and grow your business.
The Business Funding Formula was created to give all business owners a step by step process to follow in order to secure the best funding possible to turn your entrepreneurial pursuits into the truth. The funding formula has existed for decades and has had tremendous effect on some well known businesses that you recognize and probably use on a weekly or even daily basis. Without these business owners’ understanding of the funding formula it is very likely that their businesses would not exist any where near the level they do or may not even have survived without the funding formula.
The business funding formula is the holy grail for jump starting your new or existing business. You’ve probably seen some studies done by ivy league schools and other organizations and many times one of the top reasons that new businesses fail is due to undercapitalization, a complicated term to describe running out of money. I don’t care if you are selling lemonade on a table outside of your house or a more complicated business model, it takes money to buy the cups, the lemonade, the table and the signs in the front yard to market your lemonade; so although it is popular to talk about starting a business without any type of up front money it is simply for the most part not part of the capitalistic world we live in. The business funding formula will break down the top funding options available for entrepreneurs including: SBA, unsecured loans, lines of credit, merchant cash advances, corporate credit, income and every funding option available on the planet today. Most importantly it will take all of this seemingly complicated BS and break it down into easily understandable steps to guide you to the best funding that you can possibly qualify for. It will also provide you with hacks and tactics to save thousands on any financing you need for the rest of your life. This book will also pull back the curtain to how your credit score is calculated and how lenders make lending decisions. The business funding formula is a tool that every entrepreneur needs in order to achieve massive growth for a business.

So there is a mindset in the world that dominates most people it is known as the scarcity mindset vs the abundance mindset, unfortunately this type of thinking is what keeps us from starting or growing a business or from investing money into improving ourselves, it also leads us to believe that because someone else we know has succeeded that it is now less likely for me to succeed.

Probably 90% of the world subscribe to the scarcity mindset, while the other 10% believe in an abundant mindset, this video is all about finding those differences and becoming part of the abundant mindset. The 10% of those that believe in the abundant mindset oddly have these incredibly positive experiences that come their way. when they confront challenges or problems they do not allow those hurdles to keep them down for long, let’s look at why this is.

Unfortunately most of us were raised on a scarcity mindset. There isn’t enough success to go around if someone wins, then you have to lose, if the Jones are doing well financially then many people are not and therefore we are not doing well. Terms like we can’t afford it, just be grateful for what you have become the norm and this is downright depressing because we fight the thought of being ungrateful and also at the same time being satisfied with mediocrity. Neither of which is what we want. The good news is it is so possible to be grateful and yet not subscribe to accepting mediocrity, but believing in an abundant planet where there is infinite success. You’ve probably heard more people say we can’t afford it before. This terminology goes direct to the problem of scarcity mindset. Yes, right now you might not want to purchase that $50 steak, however when you focus on creating abundance in your life and realize it is possible and if you focus on doing so by starting a business or working at a startup with incredible opportunities now your mindset begins to change and so does your ability to create an abundant life. Enjoy the video and live an abundant life.

]]>https://leokanell.com/scarcity-vs-abundance-mindset/feed/0The Power of Beliefhttps://leokanell.com/the-power-of-belief/
https://leokanell.com/the-power-of-belief/#respondSat, 19 Nov 2016 19:26:24 +0000http://leokanell.com/?p=1558The last 6 months has been simply ludicrous in terms of the hoopla surrounding the 2016 presidential election between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump and I think we can all agree that the results have been even more shocking. Even for those that supported Trump they were incredibly shocked at the results of the election on November 8th. That said and regardless of whether you support Trump or not there are some very important lessons to learn about the power of Belief.

Be Unreasonable

Whenever the media would ask Trump about the polls which showed he was losing substantially if he was worried or concerned his response would always be unreasonable in that he would not even entertain the thought, but would instead say things like we are doing very well in the polls or we’re going to win in Florida, Pennsylvania and make history. Even the most ardent of Trump supporters had a tough time agreeing with those predictions because nearly all of the news and polling showed Trump losing nationally and in each of those states. Due to the power of belief that Trump had in his mission to become president and the fact that he was completely unreasonable and nonobjective about his chances for winning there is no doubt that this connected with his voters in those rust belt states of Wisconsin, Iowa, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Feed the Belief

Take an honest evaluation of your own belief in the goals and things you want to achieve with your life, when doubt creeps in to your mind or comes from those that love you and let’s be honest often times those that love us are the biggest naysayers and doubters of our goals and missions in life, so ask yourself do you entertain those doubts or are you unreasonable and do you feed your belief with consistently positive assertions that you WILL accomplish your goals? The power of belief becomes powerful when each day we review our goals and write them down and continue throughout every day for weeks, months and years we feed in to those beliefs with constant positive affirmation and of course massive action towards those goals. If you are a whiner, negative in any way or entertain doubt you will lose, if you refuse to give in to those doubts regardless of where they come from then success has a chance to enter your life!

]]>https://leokanell.com/the-power-of-belief/feed/0To be Self Aware is to Be Successfulhttps://leokanell.com/to-be-self-aware-is-to-be-successful/
https://leokanell.com/to-be-self-aware-is-to-be-successful/#respondMon, 19 Sep 2016 02:51:42 +0000http://leokanell.com/?p=1551One of the biggest epidemics is that we constantly lie to ourselves. ‘Excucitis’ is a little disease that lives inside each of us. 90 percent of the country are not making six figures. Being self aware is being honest with your shortcomings.

Be aware of your weaknesses and bring in other experts that fill the gap in those areas and always be learning from those around you. Don’t be afraid to take honest constructive criticism. The majority of the population live with excuses to make themselves feel better.

Being self aware is vital to having a successful business. Find the weak areas and make them strong! Remember, it’s okay to fail and make mistakes. Pick yourself up and learn from what went wrong. You really only ever fail if you give up.

Look for mentors and those who have already crossed the peaks that you are looking to climb. Be self aware of new skills that you must learn. We often have this idea that being humble is about staying quiet and acting somewhat introverted and from what I have constantly seen from incredibly successful people is that they were bold in looking for mentors and books to teach them to accomplish what they want to do. Yet they were humble enough to look for the answers by digging deep to find mentors and in particular information online and hidden in key books that will guide them to success. That means you must be self aware of your strengths and the knowledge you are missing so that you can find it in a mentor or books.

For example, let’s say you have a teenager or two that is becoming difficult for you to manage and guide to success. IF you are humble that means you will dig into great books of experts who have figured out some simple keys that lead to success with raising teenagers. This is true really with any topic that you wish to gain mastery over so don’t hold back, go for it, make it happen, be aggressive in searching for others who have succeeded where you want to. Be opportunistic in looking for mentors. Today in church I came across a big time real estate developer and you can bet that I will bring value to his life so that I can earn time and wisdom from him. Life is that simple, find mentors, tell yourself the truth and know your strengths and weaknesses and you will rise above it all!

]]>https://leokanell.com/to-be-self-aware-is-to-be-successful/feed/0Who are the top 1% in the US?https://leokanell.com/who-are-the-top-1-in-the-us/
https://leokanell.com/who-are-the-top-1-in-the-us/#respondMon, 04 Jul 2016 02:45:57 +0000http://leokanell.com/?p=1548So when we think of wealth (the top 1%) in this country often we think of movie stars and professional athletes, sometimes we think of tech founders and often we think of wall street. Wikipedia and government reports show that the top 1.5% of US households earn about $250,000 per year which according to many politicians is supposedly rich or on a path towards wealth. So with that as the backdrop to the definition let’s jump in to what the top 1% of earners in the US are doing in order to earn that amount of income so as to join the well known 1%.

An article from the Wall Street states this about the top 1%, “We know from other research that, by rough estimates, 90 out of 100 men and women reaching this income level are self-made with little to no inheritance. Almost all have college degrees. Men dominate the field, and almost all own or started their own business or work as an executive for a large business.” So 90% of them are self made and almost all own or started their own business which of course is no surprise to me, often we think of celebrities and others well known in the media, but the vast majority of the top 1% of earners in this country are entrepreneurial business owners.

In this world of value creation we are all compensated fairly or unfairly on how big of a problem we solve, for example: if I’m hungry and go to a restaurant to find food, the restaurant employees may be compensated a small hourly wage because many people are able to solve that problem. On the other hand if I need hernia surgery there are many fewer humans capable and instructed to be able to successfully perform such a surgery. So if we want to join the top 1% then we need to be able to solve big problems. The good news is that there are plenty of problems that you can solve without having to go to 8 to 10 years of college and another 4 years of 80 hour per week residency training. In fact with the technology and spread of the internet it has never been easier to create a product or service that can be sold online to 1,000’s of potential customers and earn sufficient income to join the top 1% of earners in America.

Bottom line if you wish to join the top 1% of earners in the US you need to create businesses that solve problems, those businesses can provide a product or service that solves problems, just to give you an idea of how easy it can be, a few years ago, in the early 2,000’s a guy was asked by his best friend who was getting married, to give a best man speech at his wedding celebration. He had no idea what he was going to say, so he read some books and did a lot of thinking on the subject and gave an incredible speech. Then he took everything he learned and put together an e-book for $19.99 and put it on a simple website. He literally sold 1,000’s of that e-book, then he did one for the bride’s maids, mom’s, dad’s and others who had to give speeches at weddings, he did all of this with very little technical knowledge and even today continues to earn incredible money from this one e-book. That one creation put him in the top 1% of earners. So go and create!

]]>https://leokanell.com/who-are-the-top-1-in-the-us/feed/0Why Your Ultimate Desires Can Make or Break Your Success.https://leokanell.com/why-your-ultimate-desires-can-make-or-break-your-success/
https://leokanell.com/why-your-ultimate-desires-can-make-or-break-your-success/#respondSun, 12 Jun 2016 05:44:18 +0000http://leokanell.com/?p=1544As an entrepreneur, father, and someone who wants to truly make a difference and leave a lasting impact with those I interact with I usually feel about once a week that I am simply not living any where near my potential and am under achieving to a significant degree which ultimately pisses me off incredibly. Perhaps you too have felt that way, just bothered by your lack of getting the job done. I have learned from a lot of mentors who are much more successful than I am 3 keys that lead you to success. Before I jump in to those 3 keys I think it’s important to understand that your ultimate desires or aspirations will have much to say about your ultimate success as well. For example one of my mentors has a goal of owning $500 Million in real estate and having a net worth of at least $100 million and so all of his daily decisions are ultimately guided and driven by his long term goals. Another well known entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk has an ultimate goal to buy the New York Jets, a feat that will certainly require that he be worth several hundred million if not a billion dollars and so again his daily decisions are based on his roadmap of whether that particular decision will take him to that end game.

#1: Write Down Your Goals Daily

Several very successful people I have studied are incredibly consistent at writing down their goals every morning and making decisions each day on whether those decisions will lead them to these goals. We are all bombarded with negativity and challenges on a daily basis and having those positive goals there to reinforce our mind frame to push forward through the crap that we constantly face is vital and frankly extremely important if we wish to get where we want to get to.

#2 Control Your Thoughts

At certain times in our lives we may confront especially difficult problems whether they are problems that arise in our family, with health, or of course financial burdens and to overcome these issues that are smacking us in the face each day we have to get good at quickly shifting from those negatives to the solutions and the steps to follow to get to the solutions. This sounds simple, and frankly it’s not that difficult, it just requires remembering to shift back to solutions and back to #1 our goals that we are focused on. For me, nothing helps me control my thoughts and help me overcome those depths of despair thoughts that drag me down to a hellish existence like reviewing my goals, I literally feel a million times better when I review those goals and then can lose myself in the tasks required to make my dreams and goals reality!

#3 Manage Your Time

In today’s electronic world it has really never been easier to waste your entire life away by flushing your most valuable asset down the drain each day which is time. I know a lot of parents that don’t want their kids on social media and spending time on the xbox. Yet, those same parents may spend 3 hours a day being mesmerized by tv shows that consume valuable time that could be spent teaching their kids or learning new skills or building a business that truly matters that could provide financial freedom for generations to come, but they are not willing to sacrifice their time on netflix or on amazon.

So to recap, write down your goals daily, control your thoughts and manage your time and do each of these each day and you will accomplish your goals and tasks with greater efficiency!